Stein’s bed is half-empty

Half of the bed was empty, though the dawn light was still rosy and Stein’s valet had not yet come to wake him—either of which being certain proof that the morning was yet quite early.

But Stein was not frightened. What had woken him was not the emptiness but the sound of little bare feet shuffling over the floor boards, and by the time he had noticed the emptiness, it had already lost its power to alarm him.

Still it was a pleasure to call out in Gaelic, “Where are you roving, my own love?”

“From one wall to the other and back again!” Lathir’s laughter was slightly muffled by the heavy curtain that divided the room.

Stein hopped up and slipped through it to find her standing on her little bare feet before the light of a low fire.

“Couldn’t you sleep any longer?” he asked tenderly.

“You know, Stein…” She patted her belly. “I am beginning to think there may be something to this baby business after all.”

“You don’t mean…”

She did not answer with words, but her smile was so peaceful and so pleased that even this discovery did not have the power to alarm him.

“So, that’s the finest news I’ve heard all day,” he said.

She laughed gingerly.

“Just how long have you been suffering out here while I’ve been snoring in there?”

“Ach, I wouldn’t call it suffering at all. It’s a sort of ache, so far. The walking does me good. I’ve had pains before, but I believe it’s different this time. I believe this is the day. And so I’ve been enjoying our last time together.”

Stein frowned. “Don’t say last time.”

“It’s together I mean,” she sighed. “Sharing the same body.”

“I wouldn’t mind having your body all to myself again,” Stein winked.

She smiled indulgently and shook her head.

“Do you suppose we have time to send for Lili?” he asked.

“I’m certain of it. First babies are said to take a while. And, my darling, I had an idea.”

“I’m certain it was excellent.”

“As am I. I think you should send the children to Leila’s. Conrad and Cedric aren’t there, but her other children are. And Astrid and Lissa are almost the same age. It will help their English to spend time with children who don’t speak any Norse.”

“An excellent idea, as I suspected.”

“And besides…” She ran a caressing hand over his bare chest and up onto his shoulder. “They’re dear children, but I should like us to be alone for the next few days to enjoy our little family of our own.”

She was so beautiful, so beloved, and so wise that Stein almost cried. “That is such an excellent idea, I already had it.”

She smiled again and stroked his cheek and neck with one hand and her belly with the other.

“But I had better hurry to send word to Egelric before he heads out for the day. He’s probably already awake, knowing him.”

“And have some breakfast brought up to me,” she said. “I don’t know when I shall ever eat again.”

“Another excellent idea, which I shall improve by eating my own with you. I don’t know when I shall eat again!”

This time the belly she patted was his own. “Around noon, I should say. Now, hurry, Stein, so you can come back to me all the sooner.”

“All right, but you won’t have this baby all alone in my absence, will you?”

“I shall have it all alone in your presence, which would be even funnier. Ach!” She laughed. “I never thought you could go whiter than you already are! Sir Malcolm delivered his wife’s baby, you know.”

“I shall hurry back with your maid, my darling. But, do you know? It’s odd… you are supposed to be shrieking and I am supposed to be all in a panic, running around squawking like a doused rooster. But we’re both quite calm.”

“It’s the very truth,” she nodded.

“That just shows how silly all those other new fathers and mothers are, doesn’t it?”

“It does, it does. Now, just in case I have this baby all alone in your absence, give me one last kiss before you go.”

“Don’t say last, my own love,” he pleaded.

“It’s our last alone together I mean,” she said with her sweet smile. “Soon we shall be three. You’re growing as superstitious as I, my darling boy.”